Tuesday, October 24, 2006

It's Here!

Finally, at long last, my new cookbook Vegan Lunch Box is ready for purchase! The books will be arriving at the beginning of November and orders will start shipping November 15th (just in time for the holidays, whew).

Operators are standing by! If you preorder today at VeganLunchBox.com, your book will be lovingly packaged and delivered to the post office by none other than yours truly!

Wait, there's more! Ordering direct will also get you free shipping on domestic U.S. orders (additional shipping costs apply to international and priority orders).

But that's not all! Order today and you'll also get a super-spiffy "Vegan Lunch Box" sticker that you can stick on your very own lunch box! Or wherever you want. How great is that?! (12/1 update: sorry, stickers are sold out!)

By the way, if you would like to have your copy autographed, I can do that, too. Just write me a note in the "Other Instructions" box on your order form.

Crap. I clicked on the order link so fast (and didn't finish reading the post) and bought the book and then I finished reading the post. Now I see the note about the autograph. Oh well. In case you see this, can you autograph mine? Kristin from Framingham, MA.

you have no idea how much you have inspired me. I was already vegetarian, but since reading your blog, a lot has changed. your info about Eat to Live urged me to read it too, and after doing so, I was persuaded to become vegan too. I also got a laptop lunchbox like Shmoo, only mine is pink. I'm hoping my husband will get your book for me for Christmas. you rock Jennifer!

I ordered your book, I love cookbooks and I strongly believe in supporting the things you love. I love your creativity and your theme. Food. Being hypoglycemic it is hard for me to be in love with food. But I love preparing it, so this is simple but fun, my motto. People think I put a lot of work into my dinner parties, when in fact it is an illusion.

yippee! I can't wait until our copy arrives... only I orderd the copy first and then checked your blog where you said you'd autograph them if we make a note of it in 'the other' field...is there anyway we could still get an autograph?thanks,vera

Wow! I love the idea of the book!! I am going to order too, and keep waiting anxiously for it to get into my maibolx!I have one question though, is there a picture of each recipe in the book? And all the lunchboxes like you post here in the website??Oh boy, this is going to be the most useful cookbook I will have at home with DS going to kindergarten next year!What an awesome idea to share with us your great lunchbox creative talent!Ana

This book sounds great I will be getting my copy as soon as I can. I do have one question could you post a list of some of the good foods that you use, possible the brands. I have tried some but with know the taste just has not been there. I'm a new vegan so its been hard to find items to cook with and eat when they do not taste good. Thank you.

Ordered last night!! I REALLY am looking forward to getting it in the mail! You will need to change your profile now to:"I'm a stay-at-home mom and best-selling cookbook author with a work-at-home hubby and one groovy little shmoo. I'm a vegan activist who loves to cook (and eat!)."

Please add me to the list of books to be autographed (Genevieve B. from Lanoka Harbor, NJ). Ordered the book before I knew you could autograph them for us. Thanks! You've been an inspiration to my girl's creative & healthy lunches.

>>I have one question though, is there a picture of each recipe in the book? And all the lunchboxes like you post here in the website??

Ah, I meant to mention that! The book includes a full color photo insert with several of our best pictures. We couldn't afford to print a picture for *every* lunch -- the price would have gone through the roof! BUT I am working on a photo gallery for the website with pictures for every lunch from the blog and in the book, with an index for easy navigation. That way people can see the lunches without paying a fortune and a half for the book. My goal is to have that done by Christmastime.

>>Can you please tell me if the recipes in the book include calorie counts?

Sorry, no calorie counts. Another place where the cost and time involved was too exorbitant.

re: calorie counts, I often use www.nutritiondata.com to calorie-count recipes in my favorite cookbooks (Southern Cooking Vegetarian Style especially: it's good to be reminded that gravy is an _occasional treat_ sort of food, even if it's vegan). I just put in all the ingredients, divide by the number of servings, and pencil in the relevant numbers at the bottom of the page!

Of course once I start getting creative and substituting that and adding this and splashing instead of measuring it gets much harder to keep track of... still, it's good to have a ballpark idea.

austin archer, I own a soymilk maker and I love the dickens out of it (though I don't use it often enough; see my vending-machine food post above.) I got mine from an Asian grocery, it's not any of the big-name US brands, but it works great.

Relevant points: 1) Unless you really like that green, starchy flavor, it helps to boil the beans for about 5 minutes first.2) No matter what kind it is, it will be really difficult to clean. I just plain let mine be a little grimy; if that will make you nuts you need to think about how much time you can put into scrubbing bean bits off it.3) I did not have mine five minutes before I was testing its ability to make cashew milk, atole, rice milk, oat milk, etc. My soymilk maker did not like some of these combinations (the corn atole was particularly messy). If you get creative, put a cookie sheet under it to catch the potential outglop.

I cannot tell you how great it is to _always have soymilk in the house_. And also how nice it is not to be ponying up $3-$4 a carton just for something ethical to put on my cereal - I'm lacto-ovo, but ethical milk is hard to find and just too pricey for me. The soymilk maker pays itself off quick.

YAY YOU! Jennifer, I'm so happy for you. It must be so exciting to see all your hard work & creativity wrapped up into one COOL book! I would like to thank you for mentioning "grown-ups" on the cover, as I most certainly AM one! I'm a nurse and have no kids, but let me tell you, my own lunches (inspired by you) are quite the hit at work. All the nurses (and some of the docs) greet me with "whatcha got good today?" Two have even become vegan! Woo! I go now to place my order :-)

Thank you so much for a fantastic blog (so good you inspired me to start my own recipe blog!), and congratulations on the cook book! I'm looking forward to getting a copy (or 12) for me and my vegan and non vegan friends!!

Yay! I can't believe it's already been 8 months since I discovered your blog (and over a year since you started it!) You have inspired me to start blogging (and I'm sure many others too), so congratulations on finally getting the book out. You must have such a feeling of accomplishment and relief! This is going on the x-mas list (c'mon, Santa...)

Congratulations! I've ordered a copy and can't wait for it to arrive here in the mountains of Tokyo.

Our little guy is just two and a half, but we love to make bento boxes and visit the local parks on the weekends. At this stage, he seems to react very positively to how the meal looks -- interesting looking goes in the mouth, others don't make it that far -- so we hope to somehow reproduce your wonderful creations.

We also will need to keep his attention on his own bentos when he starts going to school, so other less-healthy bentos don't lead him astray. His nursery school has been very cooperative about substituting soy for milk and not giving the meat and dairy products that the other kids are fed. At the same time, they don't understand why we have requested the substitution even though he shows no signs of illness, or in other words, no signs of getting sick from the food they serve. One of the reasons (his vegan diet) is obvious to us, but the school staff have been unable to make the connection as the same strong misleading myths about meat and dairy are imbedded here. At least the traditional Japanese diet is quite healthy and relatively available.

Sorry for the long comment. Your radio interview hit a chord even though we live in a different culture. Your outlook is so refreshing and uplifting, I hope to hear more interviews.